


right in front of you is a new fantasy

by i_was_human



Category: Lost in Translation (Webcomic)
Genre: Ahn Jaewon | Wyld Is A Cinnamon Roll, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, Curses, Gen, Hunters & Hunting, Immortality, Inspired By Come Back Home (ONEUS), No beta we die like mne, babie soo, jaewon is. the worst hunter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28432533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_was_human/pseuds/i_was_human
Summary: The princes did nothing wrong, Minsoo remembers. Nothing but refusing to kill.
Relationships: Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Kang Dongho | D.Min & Kim Daehyun & Lee Minsoo, Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Lee Minsoo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	right in front of you is a new fantasy

The first time Minsoo meets the hunters, he's almost ten.

He's escaping from the officers assigned to watch him (heh. watch him. as if anyone can watch the great Lee Minsoo!) when a shadow flickers in the corner of his vision.

Huh.

"Hi!" he calls, reaching up to wave at the distant shadow. "Who're you?"

His hood slips over his eyes again, and he frowns, reaching up to push it back. In hindsight, maybe that wasn't the _best_ idea - after all, the silver hair and violet eyes clearly identified him as one of the Lees - but in the moment he just wants to see. 

A second shadow flits by in the corner of his vision, and he blinks, turning to stare at it. "Hello?"

"Children shouldn't be out alone..."

Minsoo's gaze lands on the hooded figure directly in front of him, and he shrieks, scrambling back to get away from it. "Wh- who are you?"

"You don't need to be scared of me," the figure mournfully states, and Minsoo grips his shoulders, willing his hands to stop shaking.

"Then why are you wearing that hood?"

The figure sighs, and a second lands on the branch next to them without a sound.

"Hyung, what's the holdup?"

"There's a kid in the woods," the first one replies, turning to face their- _his_ companion. 

And Minsoo-

is _offended_.

"I'm not just a kid!" he squawks, folding his arms over his chest. "I'm Lee Minsoo, the second prince of Alteria!"

"Minsoo-ssi," the first one tries, raising his gloved hands. "Please allow us to take you home."

"Wh- _hyung_!" the second one protests, hands flying in the air. "This is- this is the assignment! If we-"

"He's just a kid," the first one murmurs, and the second one falls silent.

"I'm _not just a kid_!" Minsoo shrieks, and the first one nods, leaping out of the tree and landing soundlessly on the forest floor.

"Of course you're not. Might I escort your royal highness back to your family?"

"I'll allow it," Minsoo grins, and the first one dips their head. 

"Alright. Please hold on tight, Minsoo-ssi."

Arms wrap around his torso, and Minsoo shrieks as the man takes off at a dead sprint, the wind whipping by and trees flying past. It's _terrifying_ , it's _unreal_ , it's-

it's _incredible_.

The ride ends far too soon, and the man places Minsoo on the ground, dropping to a crouch in front of him. "Please stay safe, Minsoo-ssi."

"Yeah," Minsoo dazedly replies, and the man smiles, reaching up to ruffle his hair.

"Minsoo-yah!" someone cries, and Minsoo turns, only to be engulfed in his older brother's arms. "Where did you go? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, hyung," Minsoo whines, reaching up to push Minsung away. "That man just helped me!"

"What man?" Minsung asks, and Minsoo turns, ready to indicate his new friend-

but there's nobody there.

* * *

The next time he meets the hunters, he's thirteen.

He's taking his new horse out for its first ride when he catches sight of shadows shooting through the trees, and his blood runs cold.

That _wasn't real_. He _knows_ that wasn't real. That was just... a childish hallucination. 

So why is he seeing them again now?

"Hello?" he calls, one hand falling to the sword at his hip. "Who's there?"

A branch cracks, and his horse rears up, causing him to lose his grip and tumble to the ground.

Fuck.

"Wait!" he cries, watching as the horse gallops off into the trees. "Come back!"

It's too late.

The horse is gone, and he's alone with demons.

Fucking wonderful.

"You're back."

A hooded figure lands on the ground in front of him, and Minsoo digs his nails into his hands, resisting the urge to _fucking run_.

He's thirteen. He's _way_ older than he was the last time.

"Who are you?" he demands, withdrawing his sword from its sheath. "Why are you here?"

"You came back into the woods," the figure mournfully states, and Minsoo thrusts the sword in his direction, hands shaking once more. 

"Answer my question!"

The figure sighs, reaching up to grip his hood. "I can't... I can't tell you that, Minsoo-ssi."

"Why not? Are you a criminal?"

The figure turns away, grip tightening on his hood, and Minsoo scowls, taking a step closer. 

"As the second prince of Alteria, I demand you reveal yourself!"

The figure hesitates for a moment before pushing his hood back, and _oh_.

Minsoo stares at him for a moment - the black hair shot through with streaks of red, the bright crimson veins crawling over the side of his face, the way one eye is a bright brown and the other a dull, sickening red - and realizes _exactly_ why this man chose to keep hidden.

"You're cursed," he breathes, and the man's gaze falls to the floor, pain written over his face.

Minsoo's seen cursed people before, but _never_ this severe. He's seen people cursed for murder, adultery, theft, but whatever this man did-

it's something else entirely. 

He's about to reply when cold metal brushes against his neck, and the man's eyes widen, horror written on his face.

" _Hyung_!"

Minsoo winces as his throat starts to sting, and he twists around to see-

another hooded figure.

Great.

"Drop it," the man growls, and _oh_ , this isn't the lyrical man he only vaguely remembers. Far from it, in fact.

Somehow, Minsoo gets the feeling that dropping the sword _might_ be the smarter option.

"Hyung," the man in front of him tries (Minsoo's going to call him red-hair, for obvious reasons). "Hyung, that's enough-"

The blade digs into his neck once more, and red-hair shuts up.

"Drop it," the man repeats, and Minsoo lets his sword fall from his numb fingers, watching as his last hope of salvation clatters to the ground.

He's going to die here.

Fabric rustles, and he screws his eyes shut, waiting for the killing blow-

but none comes.

No - instead, the man steps away, bending down to pick up Minsoo's sword, and before his eyes, he disappears into the trees. 

"I'm so sorry," red-hair insists, but he doesn't move closer.

Minsoo's not sure if he's grateful for that or not.

"They won't hurt you," red-hair continues, and Minsoo's gaze fixes on the deep red veins crawling up the man's cheeks, mind whirring with hundreds upon hundreds of possibilities.

 _"No,"_ he nearly tells him, _"no, but you will."_

That wouldn't help anything, though, so he stays silent.

"What's your name?" he weakly asks, and red-hair stares at him for a moment, pain shining in his eyes.

"I can't... I can't tell you that, Minsoo-ssi."

"Please," Minsoo begs, and he's not sure if it's the fact that _he's going to die here_ that spurs him on or not, but _something_ pushes him to find out this man's name. "Please tell me."

"...Ahn Jaewon."

"Minsoo!"

Minsung's shout rings through the air, and Minsoo sighs in relief, tension draining from his bones. "I'm over here, hyung!"

Another branch cracks, and he looks up to see two more figures staring down at him, their heterochromatic eyes pinned on his face.

Ah.

"Stay safe, Minsoo-ssi," Jaewon murmurs, reaching up to pull his hood over his face. "Goodbye."

* * *

After that, he starts to meet the hunters a bit more often.

It's usually just Jaewon, but occasionally another one - Daehyun - will tag along as well. He still hasn't seen the scary third one since that day, and honestly, he's pretty fine with that.

Wonder why.

Still - they're _nice_. _Oddly_ nice, for the amount of curse marks they have.

Minsoo may be just a _little_ bit suspicious.

So he pulls some strings, and heads down to the library.

The librarian's assistant - a perpetually scowling boy named Kyunghun - checks him in, expression blank, and when Minsoo asks where he would be able to look someone up, Kyunghun gestures in the general direction of their catalogue.

Well. 

In hindsight, he probably should've thought of that first.

He goes for the only name he knows in full - Ahn Jaewon - and flips through pages upon pages of criminal records, coming up blank each and every time.

Huh.

That... that makes no sense.

He scours a few more books, confusion mounting as Jaewon's name isn't mentioned in a single one.

_What?_

Finally, he checks a history book, and-

 _oh_.

_"At the end of the Great War, the three defeated kings came together to place a curse on their heirs, so that they would live forever until the Lees were wiped out. Until that point, they would be exiled from their kingdoms, doomed to live eternity alone and shunned by the world until they could complete the task they failed at so many millennia ago."_

Oh. 

Jaewon's supposed to kill him.

_Oh._

* * *

"When were you going to tell me?"

Jaewon stares at him, eyes filled with pain, and Minsoo digs his nails into his palms, willing his fists to stop trembling.

"You know...?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

"Oh," Jaewon simply replies, and Minsoo-

" _Oh_? You're not- you're not gonna deny it, or argue with me, or- or _anything_?"

"You know," Jaewon murmurs, gaze dropping to his glove-covered hands. "I'm not going to lie to you."

...Jaewon makes no sense, Minsoo decides.

"If you... if you're really supposed to kill me and Minsung-hyung, then why didn't you kill me back then? When I was young?"

"...why do you think we're still cursed?"

Jaewon stares at him with _sad sad_ eyes, and Minsoo-

Jaewon could never kill anyone. He knows that so, so well.

"I should've," Jaewon murmurs, worrying his lower lip between his teeth. "I had so many opportunities. So many different times I could've broken the curse. I had _so many chances_ , and I... I just..."

"Hyung-"

" _I want both_ ," Jaewon wails, low and cracking and _broken_ , and _oh_ , Minsoo has no idea what to say to this. "I want- I want Daehyun-ah and Dongho-hyung to be happy and I _don't want anyone to die_ -"

The princes did nothing wrong, Minsoo remembers. Nothing but refusing to kill. 

"Hey," he murmurs, moving closer to wrap Jaewon in a hug. And _oh_ -

has he hugged Jaewon before?

The man stiffens in his arms for a moment before relaxing, and _oh_ , it's nice - feeling Jaewon relax just a bit - and he only has time to wonder how long it's been since anyone hugged him like this before arms wind around his back, hands gripping fistfuls of his sleep shirt for dear life.

Jaewon's crying.

Jaewon's crying in his arms, and Minsoo simply pats his head as his gaze drifts to the distant sky, hundreds of thoughts whirring in his mind.

He'll help Jaewon break the curse.

No matter what it takes, he'll help Jaewon find happiness.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!! :DDD leave a comment if you enjoyed? <3
> 
> sequel thoughts exist but will likely never get written unless there's v high demand so uh if you wanna see more comment ig
> 
> title from fantasy by jbj
> 
> [twit](https://twitter.com/i_was_human_) | [lit fic discord!](https://discord.gg/CNunB74)


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